| Two words: perfect, fisher |
| The most important things: |
| Lakers walkover the Wolves |
| Randy went perfect |
| Intriguing Pacers/Pistons |
AFP/Roy Dabner
Perfect
I just know it is very hard. Randy Johnson became the 17th person ever in history of Major League Baseball to pitch a perfect game. That is, no hit, no walk, no error. To make it even more special, Randy Johnson is the oldest person to do it, at 40 years of age. The last oldest perfect pitcher was Cy Young at 37. He beat the Atlanta Braves, one day after the Braves were struck out 18 times by Ben Sheets. The Braves are not this bad. It was just unlucky. A no-hitter can happen to anyone anytime. Randy Johnson has been known for his incredible fastballs (98mph in the 7th) and strikeouts. He is going to the Hall of Fame. This game solidifies his greatness. Here is a list of all perfect games in history of baseball.
| American League | |||
| Cy Young (37) | 5/5/1904 | Boston vs. Philly | 3-0 |
| Eddie Joss (28) | 10/2/1908 | Cleveland vs. Chicago | 1-0 |
| Charlie Robertson (26) | 4/30/1922 | Chicago vs. Detroit | 2-0 |
| Don Larson (27) | 10/8/1956 | New York vs. Brooklyn | 2-0 |
| Catfish Hunter (22) | 5/8/1968 | Oakland vs. Minnesota | 4-0 |
| Len Barker (25) | 5/15/1981 | Cleveland vs. Toronto | 3-0 |
| Mike Witt (24) | 9/30/1984 | Calif. vs. Texas | 1-0 |
| Kenny Rogers (29) | 7/28/1994 | Texas vs. Calif. | 4-0 |
| David Wells (24) | 5/17/1998 | New York vs. Minnesota | 4-0 |
| David Cone (36) | 7/18/1999 | New York vs. Montreal | 6-0 |
| National League | |||
| Lee Richmond (37) | 6/12/1880 | Worcester vs. Cleveland | 1-0 |
| John Ward (37) | 6/17/1980 | Providence vs. Buffalo | 5-0 |
| Jim Bunning (32) | 6/21/1964 | Philly vs. New York | 6-0 |
| Sandy Koufax (29) | 9/9/1965 | L.A. vs. Chicago | 1-0 |
| Tom Browning (28) | 9/16/1988 | Cincinnati vs. L.A. | 1-0 |
| Dennis Martinez (36) | 7/28/1991 | Montreal vs. L.A. | 2-0 |
| Randy Johnson (40) | 5/18/2004 | Arizona vs. Atlanta | 2-0 |
*Numbers in the parentheses are age of the pitcher. Teams on the left are the winning teams
AP/Jim Mone
Is the Lakers impossible to stop?
I don't want to admit it. The Wolves are no match for the Lakers. It looks to me like the New Jersey Nets battling the last two years in the finals. Of course the Wolves are the Nets in this case. Minnesota is a better team than the Nets. The Wolves have KG. Ehh. This does not mean the Wolves can win games. This is another situation where good players does not mean good team. Kevin Garnett is a team player. He cannot take over the game like Kobe. He needs good complimentary players around him. This is why the Wolves were not able to advance beyond the first round for so many years until they acquired Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell. Here is a big news, Cassells back problem will bar him from game 2. This will blow the Wolves. They do not have a point guard. Minnesota is a jump shooting team, they need a player to feed the jump shooters. They might start Fred Hoiberg at the point. But he is not Cassell, and is not a good ball distributor. In what I see in game 1, Minnesota cannot stop Shaq. To beat the Lakers, you can't let Shaq dominate. Ervin Johnson is not the solution. Michael Olowokandi is back. He can score but he can't match with Shaq either. Throughout the past years in the playoffs, I can see that inability to stop Shaq and hot Derek Fisher mean incapability to beat the Lakers. Fisher is the Laker's sign. I don't see how the Wolves can beat the Lakers when they can't even control the game momentum at home. Flip Saunders needs to find a way to defend entry pass to Shaq down low. Trenton Hassell needs to deny Kobe from making easy lay-ups. Whatever the Wolves do, please win game 2.
AP/Duane Burleson
Bad Boys are back!
I know Bad Boys were Isiah Thomas and Bill Lambeer. But the new bad boys are here is Detroit. I predicted that the Pistons will make to the Finals. They have the final piece of the puzzle -- Rasheed Wallace. Believe me or not, the Pistons was a solid good defensive team. They lack the intangible factor. (or the bad boy factor) They need somebody who can bring energy into the game. They had good role players, Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Tayshuan Prince, and many more. They are all good consistent role players. To be a real good team and winning team in the playoffs, a team needs a go-to guy, role players, and energy sling blade. They have Hamilton (arguable) as go-to guy, a bunch of role players, now with the addition of Rasheed. Puzzle solved. This team is ready to bring playoff basketball back to Detroit. This match up between the Pistons and Pacers maybe better than the one out in the West. They are more equally matched. I will not be surprised if this one goes all the way to game 7. I still pick the Pistons to win. According to history, Jermaine O'Neal is not a big time performer, and will do stupid things down the stretch to lose games.
| Jermaine's chokes: |
| 1. Fouled Kobe Bryant in 2003 All-Star game. Michael Jordan made the "could-have-been" last shot to win the game for the East. With a few seconds left, Kobe tried to put up an off-balanced three. No one thought that Kobe could make it, maybe not everybody, Jermaine O'Neal stretched his arm to try to block it, and fouled Kobe. Kobe made two of three and brought the game to overtime. Michael Jordan's All-Star career could have finished on a game-winning shot, only ruined by Jermaine. |
| 2. Jermaine stupidly fouled Jason Kidd in 2002 first round playoff, game 5 (last game in best of five) overtime. J-Kidd dribbled the ball in backcourt when Nets (#1 seed) trailing the Pacers (#8 seed). Jermaine O'Neal I-don't-know-what-he-was-thinkingly fouled Kidd to put him on the free throw line. Kidd was in the backcourt when he was fouled, when the Pacers were leading. |
| 3. More to come in this series, just watch |
AP/Jeff Chiu
Montgomery goes pro
College coaches should just stay in college. A lot of college coaches failed on their professional playground. Just to name a few, Tim Floyd, Rick Pitino, and Lon Kruger. I'm sure some coaches have suitable professional grades. But not Mike Montgomery, who coached Stanford for who knows so many years, and has a history of choking as #1 seed in the second round twice (including this year). He does not know what he got himself into. Further, Golden State is not a good first step. This team last made the playoff in 1994. They are in the same division as the Lakers, Kings, Clippers and the Suns. I don't see how they will be able to make the playoff in the West. Montgomery has college written all over him. He has yet to win anything in college, maybe this is the reason he thinks that he needs to try new things.